Police seek help identifying gunman involved in shooting at Lak Si

Seksanti Kanlayanawisut
The Nation February 10, 2014 1:00 am

This is a photo a man suspected of concealing a gun in a plastic popcorn bag during a skirmish between anti-government protesters and pro-election supporters at the Lak Si intersection on February 1, the evening before the election.

Three photos have been uploaded to the National Police spokesman's Facebook page showing the face of a man suspected of using a war weapon concealed by a plastic popcorn bag during the bloody clash involving anti-government protesters at the Lak Si intersection on February 1.

The police spokesman asked that anyone with information on this man send the details to police via a Facebook message.

According to the Erawan Emergency Medical Service Centre of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, seven people were wounded during the exchange of fire at Lak Si and one of them was still in hospital.

On Saturday, two people were hurt when an explosive was hurled into an anti-government rally site in the morning, reports said.

The local newspaper quoted police as saying they suspected the attack was carried out by opponents of the protesters trying to bring down the caretaker government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

The pre-dawn blast at the rally site at the Chaeng Wattana government complex north of Bangkok wounded a demonstrator and a security guard, according to police.

The attack raised tensions following the February 2 snap general election, which was boycotted by the opposition Democrat Party and blocked by anti-government groups in Bangkok and much of the South.

Meanwhile, a police source said the Udon Thani Court has approved arrest warrants for six more men involved in the shooting last month of red-shirt leader Kwanchai Sarakham, also known as Kwanchai Praipana, and one of them has already been detained.

Kwanchai was seriously wounded and will need more surgery.

"But his condition has already improved a lot," Kwanchai's son said yesterday.

According to a member of the investigation team, the six other suspects are soldiers based in Kanchanaburi.

"We will write to their agency. We expect the agency to hand them over in three or five days," the source said.